Russell Crowe Sang 40 Takes in a Row for Les Miz

Much has been (and will be) made of Les Miserables’ live singing. Director Tom Hooper insisted on it, and the featurette that explains it has been in heavy promotional rotation since September. Live singing! It’s better! Unless you’re Russell Crowe, who had to do 40 takes in a row of one of his songs, according to THR. (Tragically, the article does not say which song.) “I don’t think any of us fully realized what the casual comment, ‘Every take is sung live,’ would really mean,” he says. Seriously, 40 takes of a full song, all the way through, back to back? How many ways are there to phrase “And if they fall as Lucifer fell / the flame, the swoooord!”?